According to the Book of Jin - Zu Ti Biography, Zu Ti (tì) (266-321), the word Shi Zhi, the Jin Dynasty Fanyang Thu (qiú) County (present-day Lai Shui County, Hebei Province) people, he died as a child his father, relying on his older brother to raise grown up. Due to his bold and unrestrained character, he refused to study properly until he was fourteen or fifteen years old. Later on, Zu Ti felt that he would not be able to achieve anything if he continued like this, so he checked his behavior and studied seriously. In a few years, he not only read a lot of books, but also often went to the capital city of Luoyang to seek teachers and friends, discussing learning, and increased a lot of knowledge and talent, and gradually be praised by the people.
After a few years, Zu Ti moved to Yangping (present-day Xin County, Shandong Province), and later went to the state with Liu Kun, a famous scholar, to be the chief bookkeeper. The two men shared the same interests, went to the state office during the day, and slept under the same blanket at night, which made their relationship very close. Late at night, as soon as they heard the crowing of a rooster, they got up and danced with swords until the white of the east. From then on, the "chicken dance" became their daily homework.
Later, when the Western Jin Dynasty was in civil unrest, Zu Ti crossed the Yellow River with several hundred of his clan members and moved south to the Huaihe River. In 307 A.D., Zu Ti was recruited by King Sima Rui of Luangmu (láng yá) as a counselor (military advisor) and moved to Jingkou (present-day Zhenkou, Jiangsu Province). In June 311 AD, the Xiong Nu captured Luoyang and Emperor Huai of Jin was captured. Zu Ti demanded a northern expedition to recover the Central Plains. Sima Rui was unwilling to fight inwardly, and only appointed him as the assassin of Yuzhou, asking him to recruit his own army. Zu Ti led his own men of more than a hundred to cross the Yangtze River, and when the boat reached the mid-stream, he raised his oar and knocked against the side of the boat and swore, "If I can't recapture the Central Plains, I'll never cross the river again to return to the south!"
Zu Ti was courageous and resourceful, and soon recaptured all the country south of the Yellow River. But his actions aroused the suspicion of the ruling group of the Jin Dynasty, which put pressure on him. In 321 A.D., when Zu Ti was fifty-six years old, he died of hatred with unfulfilled ambition.
The idiom of "rising from the rooster and dancing" is a metaphor for the spirit of an aspiring person who is ready to serve his country with vigor and determination.